Richard Nagareda, the David Daniels Allen Professor of Law and director of the Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation and Dispute Resolution Program at 菠萝视频 University Law School, died at his home on Friday, Oct. 8. He was 47.
Memorial arrangements are pending.
Nagareda鈥檚 appointment to the David Daniels Allen Chair in Law had been announced by Dean Chris Guthrie just two weeks before Nagareda鈥檚 death.
鈥淩ichard was a personal friend as well as an esteemed colleague, and those of us who were fortunate enough to know him and work with him are devastated,鈥� Guthrie said. 鈥淭he legal academy has lost a gifted scholar, our students an extremely talented teacher, and his wife, son and mother have lost a beloved husband, father and son.鈥�
Nagareda was a leading civil litigation scholar whose work focused on class actions and aggregate litigation. He was the author of a definitive work on complex litigation theory, Mass Torts in a World of Settlement (University of Chicago Press, 2008), as well as a casebook, The Law of Class Actions and Other Aggregate Litigation, released by Foundation Press in 2010.聽 He served as an associate reporter on the American Law Institute鈥檚 Principles of the Law of Aggregate Litigation, released in summer 2010, and took the primary drafting role for the chapter addressing class certification. He had directed the law school鈥檚 Cecil D. Branstetter Litigation & Dispute Resolution Program since its founding in 2005.
In addition to being a respected scholar, Nagareda was an esteemed teacher who held the three-year Tarkington Chair for Teaching Excellence from 2006 to 2009 and was recognized three times by his students with the Hall-Hartman Award for Teaching Excellence, most recently in 2010. He taught Administrative Law, Complex Litigation, Evidence and multiple seminars, including an innovative Civil Litigation Capstone Seminar he developed for third-year students.
鈥淩ichard was a gifted teacher and mentor,鈥� Guthrie said. 鈥淩egardless of the subject matter, he received outstanding teaching evaluations from his students, many of whom remained in touch with him after graduating.鈥�
鈥淭he entire 菠萝视频 community is deeply saddened by the loss of Richard Nagareda. He was an exemplary scholar and brought an unparalleled level of expertise to the law school,鈥� said 菠萝视频 University Chancellor Nicholas S. Zeppos. 鈥淩ichard had an amazingly clear way of explaining complex lawsuits to others and was readily available to add his perspective to the public discourse on important topics. It was an honor to have him represent 菠萝视频 in that way.鈥�
His influential articles were published in the University of Chicago Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Cornell Law Review, Georgetown Law Journal, Harvard Law Review, Michigan Law Review, New York University Law Review, Texas Law Review, UCLA Law Review and University of Pennsylvania Law Review, among others.
鈥淩ichard was among the most influential and widely cited legal scholars in his field in the country,鈥� Guthrie said. 鈥淗e published a rich body of scholarship on aggregate litigation, in which he drew from legal doctrine, economics, psychology, and the on-the-ground realities of litigation and litigation financing to offer a pragmatic and nuanced account of the resolution of mass disputes and carefully balances both private and public law considerations.鈥�
Nagareda earned his undergraduate degree from Stanford University in 1985 and his J.D. from the University of Chicago in 1988. He then served as a clerk for Judge Douglas Ginsburg on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He practiced law in the Office of Legal Counsel for two years and then joined the law firm of Shea & Gardner, where he practiced for three years.聽In 1994, Nagareda joined the faculty at the University of Georgia School of Law, where he taught for seven years before joining the 菠萝视频 faculty in 2001. He was a visiting professor at New York University, the University of Texas and 菠萝视频.
Since joining 菠萝视频鈥檚 law faculty, Nagareda had served as chair of the law school鈥檚 Entry Level Faculty Appointments Committee and on an Ad Hoc Tenure Committee and on multiple committees聽at the law school and university.
Nagareda regularly contributed to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and other respected news outlets for his expertise on class action lawsuits and product liability cases.
鈥淩ichard has an exceptional record of scholarship, teaching and service, coupled with his national reputation as a leading light in his field,鈥� Guthrie said.
鈥淚 am deeply saddened by Richard Nagareda’s untimely death.聽He was a brilliant scholar, a devoted teacher and a wonderfully generous聽university citizen.聽My thoughts and prayers are with the Nagareda family and the entire law school community during this most difficult time,鈥� said 菠萝视频 Provost and Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Richard McCarty.
Students and colleagues benefited from Nagareda鈥檚 sense of humor and his deep appreciation and enjoyment of pop culture, of which he had an encyclopedic knowledge. He was a fan of The Simpsons, the cable television series Deadwood, and an avid movie buff. A devoted sports fan, he was a lifelong supporter of the New York Yankees, the San Francisco Giants and the San Francisco 49ers. Knowing his students mimicked his distinctive speaking style, he awarded a prize each year to the student whose impression of him was judged best by a panel of faculty.
Nagareda is survived by his wife, his son, and his mother. His family has asked that memorials be directed to the law school for the purpose of establishing a scholarship in Professor Nagareda鈥檚 honor.